Combined barrel support and flash hider for guns



May 19, 1925. 1,538,243

T. soR-roN' COMBINED BARREL SUPPORT AND FLASH HIDER FOR GUNS led-J ly 12, 1922 Y INVENTOR- Waller 7. Garlan- A TTORNEY Patented May 19, 1925.

UNHTED, sra'ras WALTER T. GORTON, OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY.

COMBINED BARREL SUPPORT AND FLASH I-IIDER FOR GUNS.

Application filed July 12, 1922.

Serial No. 574,559.

(GRANTED UNDER THE ACT OF MARCH 3, 1883; 22 STAT. 625.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I WALTER T. GoR'roN, captain, Ordnance Department, United States Army, a. citizen of the United States, stationed at Springfield Armory, Springfield, Mass, have invented an Improvement in Combined Barrel Supports and Flash Hiders for Guns, of which the following is a specification.

The invention described herein may be used by the Government, or any of its officers or employees in prosecution of work for the Government, or by any other person in the United States, without payment to me of any royalty thereon, in accordance with the act of March 3, 1883.

The subject of this invention is a combined barrel support and flash hider for guns.

In recoil operated automatic guns it is customary to provideat the forward end of the barrel jacket, some means of support for the barrel so that the same may be properly guided and supported in its reciprocation during firing. It is also customary, in many instances, to have attachments for the muzzle end of the jacket which momentarily check the forward movement of the gases thereby providing a more efficient force tending to recoil the barrel.

Vith the devices of this character heretofore in use the gases, as they issue from the muzzle end of the gun are diverted and allowed to escape laterally, which when the gun is mounted in an airplane is injurious to the cowl or other part which may be in the path of such diverted gas streams.

My invention is designed to provide a structure which will act as a support for the muzzle end of the gun barrel and increase the recoil of the gun barrel and also serve as a flash hider which will direct the escaping gases forwardly and prevent lateral divergence thereof.

lVith these and other objects in View, my invention resides in the novel arrangement and combination of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed mav be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Practical embodiments of my invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section of a device constructed in accordance with my invention, showing the same attached to a gun jacket;

Fig. 2 is a similar view of a modified form of the device.

Referring to the drawings of reference:

A fragment of the jacket of a machine gun is indicated at 10 which jacket surrounds the gnn barrel 11. The forward end of the jacket may be threaded interiorly for threaded engagement with a barrel support v 12, a reduced portion 13 of which encircles the barrel with a free sliding fit.

'The reduced portion 13 may be exteriorly threaded for connection with a gas check and flash hiding element 14 formed with an apertured dividing wall ordiaphragm 15, the aperture in which is of a size to permit free passage of the bullet but to retard the passage of gas during the passage of the bullet therethrough. element into a gas chamber 16, surrounding the muzzle end of the gun, and a cup shaped expansion chamber 17 which serves to hide the flash and direct the hot gases forwardly.

The modification shown in Fig. 2 ismade of one piece and, in this instance, the apertured diaphragm or wall is eliminated as the device is designed especially for use with caliber machine guns in which the force of recoil will be suflicient to properly function the gun without greatly confining the escaping gases.

The device consists of a tubular member by numerals The wall divides the having a threaded rear end 18 adapted to elongated portion 20 providing an expansion chamber which serves to hide the flash and direct the expelled gases forwardly.

I claim:

. A combined barrel support and flash hider for machine guns having a barrel jacket embodying a member attachable to the jacket having a reduced portion adapted to encircle the muzzle end of the barrel of the gun and support the same and an ele- 10 ment attachable to said reduced portion formed with an apertured Wall dividing the element into a gas chamber surrounding the muzzle of the barrel and a substantially cylindrical unobstructed chamber adapted 1 to hide the flash.

WALTER T. GORTON. 

